The 15,791 square-foot mansion near River Oaks recently hit the market for $27.5 million.
TK Images / Compass
A recent analysis by real estate firm Compass found that sales of Houston homes priced at more than $10 million surged by 75% last year, even as higher mortgage rates and inflation slowed the broader luxury market. Sales of homes priced over $1 million in the city fell 8.4% last year, according to Houston Association of Realtors.
Overall, seven ultra-luxury residential properties in Houston totaling $78.08 million traded hands last year, not including private offerings that didn’t appear on the Multiple Listing Service, according to Compass. While that’s a small number of deals, the dollar value represents a nearly 20% jump compared with 2022. There were four public ultra-luxury deals in 2022 and none in 2021 or 2020.
Houston’s ultra-luxury market is dwarfed by those in Manhattan, Los Angeles and Miami, which were the three largest last year. Vacation destinations such as Palm Beach, Fla.; Orange County, Fla; the Hamptons region of New York’s Long Island; Hawaii and Aspen, Colo., also ranked in the top 10.
“There are lots of $20 million to $40 million houses in a lot of these resort towns… where people all over the world are shuffling around. In Houston, though, if you’re going to have an ultra-luxury house, chances are, you live here, you work here and your business is here,” said Robert Bland, a broker associate with Compass.
Bland is working with an energy trader and his wife to market 3 Briarwood Court, which hit the market for $27.5 million last week. If the home sells at asking price, it would become the most expensive home sold on the MLS in Houston, breaking a 2022 record.
TK Images / Compass
Owners Neil and Carol Kelley, told the Wall Street Journal they bought the River Oaks land in 2010 for $5 million and built the 15,791-square-foot home, which has four bedrooms, four full baths and four half-baths, an elevator, gym, putting green, golf simulator and billiards room. It features a classical architectural style with unique ceiling designs in almost every room.
Energy professionals like Kelley, along with doctors and lawyers, are contributing to the growth in ultra-luxury real estate in Houston, Bland said. He recently represented the seller of 3315 Del Monte, which was listed at $11.9 million and that sold to a surgeon with ties to rapper Drake. Built by Layne Kelley Homes, it ranked among the most expensive sold in 2023, according to HAR.
Layne Kelly is building more speculative ultra-luxury homes, including 215 Carnarvon Drive, which is listed for $25 million, and 223 Carnarvon, listed for $29 million. Both are in the Memorial area.
Realtors say the ultra-luxury spec work is a sign that developers feel more comfortable in their ability to find buyers here. And the pool of potential buyers is expected to grow: Houston’s population of individuals who hold $100 million or more worth of investable assets is projected to increase by 47% over the next decade from 255 people in 2023, Henley and Partners estimates.
“I think it’s a testament to the Houston economy,” Bland said. “There’s just a lot of wealthy people wanting to get settled here.”
(Updated Feb. 9, 11:45 a.m.) This story was updated to correct the number of bathrooms in the home.